For a two-block stretch of New York real estate, cobblestone Bond Street packs a lot of architectural delights. Although Bond Street spans two landmark districts (NoHo Historic District and NoHo Historic District Extension), several high-priced condominium conversions on the street are anything but historic in appearance. Alas, landmark designation came in May 2008, after the original buildings had been demolished/rebuilt in modern styles.
The modern standouts in our photo gallery are numbers 25, 40, 41, 48 and 57 Bond Street; the “classics” are 670 Broadway, 1-5, 7-9, 24, and 54 Bond Street.
The cast green glass facade and white aluminum street-level filigree screen of 40 Bond are irresistible (to me). But directly across the street, 41 is impressively subdued monochromatic bluestone. Even the fire hydrant blends in. A few doors down, number 48’s grey granite facade is livened by the projection of random window panes – like giant glass teardrops.
At Bond Street’s western end, 670 Broadway’s brick and granite dates from 1873 and was originally Brooks Brothers’ home; across the street, 1-5 Bond Street is white cast iron construction with a Mansard roof. Just east of Lafayette Street, Gene Frankel Theatre resides at 24 Bond Street. This is the street’s playful element, with gilt dancers cavorting across and up three of the building’s six stories. (Robert Mapplethorpe’s studio was here 1972-1989.) At the Bowery end of Bond Street, number 54 is another cast iron building, the former Bond Street Savings Bank.